DL Open Thread Monday June 27 2022
Very important action item from Sean Lynn below, but first…
Chris Coons Heaps Praise on John Cornyn While John Cornyn Heaps Shame on Himself
Coons: I am proud to partner with Senator Cornyn on this bipartisan effort to support scholarship on civics, the preparation of civics educators, and the training of a new generation of active citizens.”
Just days later Senator John Cornyn provides a civics lesson via tweet:
@JohnCornyn
Now do Plessy vs Ferguson/Brown vs Board of Education.
Quote Tweet
Barack Obama
@BarackObama
· Jun 24
Today, the Supreme Court not only reversed nearly 50 years of precedent, it relegated the most intensely personal decision someone can make to the whims of politicians and ideologues—attacking the essential freedoms of millions of Americans.
You read that right. The very guy who Coons is “proud” to call his partner, just quote tweeted Barack Obama and said that now that Roe is gone, Plessy vs Ferguson/Brown vs Board of Education should follow.
There is literally nothing they can do or say that can do to shake Coons’ faith in the goodwill of his Republican partners.
Via Sean M. Lynn
The Right to Privacy. You’ve probably heard that term a lot over the last several days. But what does it mean?
Simply stated, The Right to Privacy means a Constitutionally Guaranteed set of rights which include:
The right to be a parent.
The right to use birth control.
The right to marry who you want regardless of race, creed or gender.
The right to engage in private and consensual sexual activity in your own home.
And, yes, until last week, the right to seek an abortion (which is already statutorily protected in this State).
Do any of those rights matter to you, or the people you love?
If so, this quote from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas (in the opinion striking down the right to have an abortion) should truly, truly terrify you:
“In future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell,” Thomas wrote, referring to decisions on contraception, sodomy and same-sex marriage.
In Delaware, we must immediately take steps to protect The Right to Privacy – before it’s too late.
That is why Senator Sturgeon, Representatives Longhurst, Griffith, Bentz, Baumbach and Heffernan have introduced HB460 (below), which would enshrine The Right to Privacy in Delaware’s Constitution.
The most beautiful explanation of this Right comes from one of the earliest Supreme Court cases creating it:
“These matters, involving the most intimate and personal choices a person may make in a lifetime, choices central to personal dignity and autonomy, are central to the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life….The petitioners are entitled to respect for their private lives. The State cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime. Their right to liberty under the Due Process Clause gives them the full right to engage in their conduct without intervention of the government. ‘It is a promise of the Constitution that there is a realm of personal liberty which the government may not enter.’”
If this matters to you, your autonomy, your freedom to define what it means to be a human, then please join us in advocating for the passage of HB460.
Please contact your Legislator and ask for their support:
District 1
Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha
Dover: 744-4351
Nnamdi.Chukwuocha@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 2
Stephanie T. Bolden
Dover: 577-8476
StephanieT.Bolden@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 3
Sherry Dorsey Walker
Dover: 744-4351
Sherry.DorseyWalker@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 4
Gerald L. Brady
Dover: 744-4351
gerald.brady@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 5
Kendra Johnson
Dover: 744-4351
Kendra.Johnson@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 6
Debra J. Heffernan
Dover: 744-4351
Debra.Heffernan@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 7
Larry Lambert
Dover: 744-4351
Larry.Lambert@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 8
Sherae’a Moore
Dover: 744-4351
Rae.Moore@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 9
Kevin S. Hensley
Dover: 744-4171
Kevin.Hensley@delaware.gov
Republican
District 10
Sean Matthews
Dover: 744-4351
Sean.Matthews@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 11
Jeff N. Spiegelman
Dover: 744-4171
Jeff.Spiegelman@delaware.gov
Republican
District 12
Krista Griffith
Dover: 744-4351
Krista.Griffith@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 13
John L. Mitchell
Dover: 577-8476
John.L.Mitchell@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 14
Peter C. Schwartzkopf
Dover: 744-4351
Peter.Schwartzkopf@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 15
Valerie Longhurst
Dover: 744-4351
Valerie.Longhurst@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 16
Franklin D. Cooke
Dover: 744-4351
FranklinD.Cooke@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 17
Melissa Minor-Brown
Dover: 744-4351
Melissa.MinorBrown@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 18
David Bentz
Dover: 744-4351
David.Bentz@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 19
Kimberly Williams
Dover: 744-4351
Kimberly.Williams@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 20
Stephen Smyk
Dover: 744-4171
Steve.Smyk@delaware.gov
Republican
District 21
Michael Ramone
Dover: 744-4108
Michael.Ramone@delaware.gov
Republican
District 22
Michael F. Smith
Dover: 744-4171
Michael.F.Smith@delaware.gov
Republican
District 23
Paul S. Baumbach
Dover: 744-4351
Paul.Baumbach@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 24
Edward S. Osienski
Dover: 744-4351
Edward.Osienski@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 25
John A. Kowalko
Dover: 744-4351
John.Kowalko@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 26
Madinah Wilson-Anton
Dover: 744-4351
Madinah.Wilson-Anton@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 27
Eric Morrison
Dover: 744-4351
Eric.Morrison@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 28
William J. Carson
Dover: 744-4351
William.Carson@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 29
William Bush
Dover: 744-4351
William.Bush@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 30
W. Shannon Morris
Dover: 744-4171
Shannon.Morris@delaware.gov
Republican
District 32
Andria L. Bennett
Dover: 744-4351
Andria.Bennett@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 33
Charles S. Postles Jr.
Dover: 744-4081
Charles.Postles@delaware.gov
Republican
District 34
Lyndon D. Yearick
Dover: 744-4171
Lyndon.Yearick@delaware.gov
Republican
District 35
Jesse R. Vanderwende
Dover: 744-4171
Jesse.Vanderwende@delaware.gov
Republican
District 36
Bryan W. Shupe
Dover: 744-4171
Bryan.Shupe@delaware.gov
Republican
District 37
Ruth Briggs King
Dover: 744-4251
ruth.briggsking@delaware.gov
Republican
District 38
Ronald E. Gray
Dover: 744-4171
Ronald.Gray@delaware.gov
Republican
District 39
Daniel B. Short
Dover: 744-4172
Daniel.Short@delaware.gov
Republican
District 40
Timothy D. Dukes
Dover: 744-4171
Timothy.Dukes@delaware.gov
Republican
District 41
Richard G. Collins
Dover: 744-4082
Rich.Collins@delaware.gov
Republican
SENATORS:
District 1
Sarah McBride
Dover: 744-4147
Sarah.McBride@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 2
Darius J. Brown
Dover: 744-4191
Darius.Brown@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 3
Elizabeth Lockman
Dover: 744-4168
Elizabeth.Lockman@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 4
Laura Sturgeon
Dover: 744-4135
Laura.Sturgeon@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 5
Kyle Evans Gay
Dover: 744-4137
Kyle.Gay@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 6
Ernesto B. Lopez
Dover: 744-4136
Ernesto.Lopez@delaware.gov
Republican
District 7
Spiros Mantzavinos
Dover: 744-4133
Spiros.Mantzavinos@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 8
David P. Sokola
Dover: 744-4139
David.Sokola@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 9
John Walsh
Dover: 744-4163
John.Walsh@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 10
Stephanie L. Hansen
Dover: 744-4138
Stephanie.Hansen@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 11
Bryan Townsend
Dover: 744-4165
Bryan.Townsend@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 12
Nicole Poore
Dover: 744-4164
Nicole.Poore@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 13
Marie Pinkney
Dover: 744-4167
Marie.Pinkney@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 14
Bruce C. Ennis
Dover: 744-4310
Bruce.Ennis@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 15
Dave G. Lawson
Dover: 744-4237
Dave.Lawson@delaware.gov
Republican
District 16
Colin Bonini
Dover: 744-4169
Colin.Bonini@delaware.gov
Republican
District 17
Trey Charles Paradee
Dover: 744-4162
Trey.Paradee@delaware.gov
Democrat
District 18
David L. Wilson
Dover: 744-4134
David.L.Wilson@delaware.gov
Republican
District 19
Brian Pettyjohn
Dover: 744-4117
Brian.Pettyjohn@delaware.gov
Republican
District 20
Gerald W. Hocker
Dover: 744-4144
Gerald.Hocker@delaware.gov
Republican
District 21
Bryant L. Richardson
Dover: 744-4298
Bryant.Richardson@delaware.gov
Republican
@Sean Lynn – “school choice” is NOT a constitutionally guaranteed right. At least not as we have implemented it in Delaware.
The right to public education is enumerated in the Delaware constitution. Equal access to education is covered by the US Constitution’s 14th amendment equal protection. Neither of these is a right to “school choice.”
In Delaware, “school choice” is a fig leaf so we can pretend we are meeting the Constitutional requirement for equal access. Instead we have a Hunger Games lottery for a handful of elite quasi-public charter schools.
“School Choice” is one of those focus-group tested phrases that sound like a good thing, but doesn’t work out so well for the most families. Works good for the upper middle class white folks though.
If “school choice” is a Constitutional guarantee, it is a short step to vouchers.
Really. Even in the context of his statement it makes no sense. It looks like a typo, something he forgot to delete before he hit send.
To be fair, I was taking the post at face value assuming it was an accurate quote.
Hey, he sent it out, it’s fair game to quote it. It just seems beyond odd. The rest of the rights he’s talking about are directly affected by the Dobbs ruling; school choice is not. Nor is it couched in the syntax of the other examples, which all follow the “the right to” construction.
If anything, right-wingers would argue the SCOTUS ruling on Maine’s vouchers gives parents more school choice.
Yeah, that’s a clunky unforced error right there. I’ taking it out until Lynn can clarify.
In the meantime if should not stop anyone from helping raise the profile of, and building support for HB460
As a transplant in Delaware from Texas, I suffered under John Cornyn’s rule in various elected offices. He was very up front about his racism and association White Citizen’s Council type organizations and continues in that mode today.
I am embarrassed with Senator Coon’s buddying up with Cornyn as an implicit endorsement of his world view. This seems to be a Delaware political tradition set by our Joe many decades back.